CHESHIRE captain Ray Hughes is a great believer in forward planning - he has already chosen the players he wants in his line-up for the first match of next season.

And even though that's more than three months away. He said: "I want the best available when we take on Noth Wales.

"It's not a league match but I want to treat it as one."

Hughes chopped and changed his side so many times last summer that he was forced to draft in extra players to bolster his original squad.

"The biggest difficulty I faced was unavailability through international commitments, other engagements or injury," he said as he reflected on his first season at the helm.

Didsbury's Daniel Wardrop played only once - in the Northern Championship at Silloth-on-Solway - while fellow England squad members Paul Waring and Adam Stott were also not always at his beck and call.

"I am beginning to wonder what the county scene is going to be like in five or six seasons," added Hughes, whose side finished fourth in the Northern Counties League. "If the full-time amateurs have to be elsewhere on match days, it could revert back to as it was 25 years ago when the teams were made up of players who pegged it up just at weekends.

"We had six or seven of our leading players players missing for our last three matches and when we went to Durham for our final fixture we were down to number 23 on our list.

"There were only 18 in contention for places at the start if the season although the new players merited call-ups on the strength of their success as the campaign unfolded."

Among those to emerge from the wings were Mike Jones, from Royal Liverpool, and Styal's David Horsey.

"Jones has been particularly impressive," said Hughes. "He won all five of his singles games in the league and he is a fine prospect."

Expected to be in thick of the action next year are Astbury's Mark Pilling, Caldy's Anthony Shields and the `other' Mike Jones, from Heswall.

Despite losing six players to the professional ranks at the end of last season, Hughes feels the side could have finished higher in the league - especially after beating defending champions Yorkshire in their second match.

"Provided we don't lose any players over the winter, I'm hopeful for next season," he added.